Pilfers @ The Chance, Poughkeepsie, NY

Back to back Pilfers shows for me! Originally, Pilfers were set to play with Mephiskapheles, Rude Boy George and Hub City Stompers. What a lineup that was going to be! I decided to go back to my old stomping grounds and stay over my wife’s parents house nearby so it wasn’t too far of a drive. Unfortunately, due to low ticket sales, Mephiskapheles and Rude Boy George were essentially forced off the bill and Pilfers and HCS continued on with the show in hope of salvaging it. Believe it or not, I’ve seen it a lot worse at shows at The Chance and other places and an decent size group showed up for the show. I’m glad the show wasn’t canceled!

Hub City Stompers were the opening band for the “two band showcase” as Travis said on stage. The band reformed recently and I believe played the night before in NJ. A lot of the members of HCS played in the reunited Inspecter 7 but after playing for a year together, Giuseppe and Travis decided it was best to split up the groups so Hub City is back. It took a bit of time for the crowd to show up in the pit area for The Chance. I was the first one in there because I wanted to take pictures and then more and more people filled in.

Hub City Stompers played for about 40-45 minutes since there was only 2 bands playing. From what I can remember, the band played songs like “Skins Don’t Cry,” “Chatterbox,” and that “Ska Train to Dorkville” song. I enjoy their stuff but don’t care for the Dorkville song; not because I’m a dork myself (I know I am) but just gets repetitive. It’s funny tune but I could do without it. Besides that, the band put on a great set despite all the bullshit surrounding the day.

Pilfers played for an hour and fifteen minutes and did so without Vinny Nobile and James Blanck this time around. Billy Kottage stepped in, taking a break from his full-time duties with Reel Big Fish. Not sure who was drumming for the group but he did well. By this point, a lot of the bottom portion of The Chance was filled in and I was happy to see people come out to the show. I was worried with the low ticket sales bullshit, that it would be 20 people there but that wasn’t the case.

The band started off with “Intro/Dr. Kevorkian” and then went into “Roller Coaster.” They were playing their classics (“Yakuza,” “Climbing”) as well as some new ones (“Done Nothing Wrong,” “Easy Man”) as well. They also played “Kawaii” again, which is always cool to hear. There was a little rudie kid in the audience and he kept screaming out “Show No Fear,” which the band played towards the end. Pilfers and the crowd loved seeing kids at the show. As Coolie likes to say to newbies to their shows, they are Pilfers Crew going forward and everybody else is Old Pilfers Crew.

I believe the last song they played during the night was “Mr. Exploita” and everybody still wanted more songs. It doesn’t matter if there is 100 people at a Pilfers show or 1000, you’re going to be entertained. I just wish the whole debacle earlier in the day didn’t happen and all the bands played.

Check out some photos from the show! More will be posted on SkaPunkPhotos.com tomorrow.